And the Oscar Nominees are...

Kathryn Bigelow's war drama The Hurt Locker and James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar are set to sweep the board at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards after landing nine top nominations apiece, including honors for Best Picture and Best Director.

The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner is up for the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar, competing against George Clooney (Up In The Air), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) and Colin Firth (A Single Man).

In the Best Director category, Bigelow will fight it out with her ex-husband Cameron, along with Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Lee Daniels (Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire) and Jason Reitman (Up In The Air).

The Hurt Locker and Avatar will lead the Best Picture category - the films are among 10 nominees for the prestigious accolade, including Up In The Air, The Blind Side and Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire.

Avatar, which smashed box office records by grossing more than $2 billion this weekend to become the best-selling international release of all time, is also nominated for a slew of technical awards, such as Best Art Direction, Best Editing and Best Cinematography.

Meanwhile, Sandra Bullock has landed her first Oscar nomination for The Blind Side - the star will go up against Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire) for the title of Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Matt Damon (Invictus), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger) and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) are among the nominees for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar, while Penelope Cruz (Nine), Mo'Nique (Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Horse) and Up In The Air's Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick will battle for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role prize.

The nominees for 10 of the 24 categories were unveiled by Anne Hathaway and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak at an early morning news conference on Tuesday at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The Oscars, presented by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, will be handed out on March 7th at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

The nominees for the 10 main categories are as follows:

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up In The Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up In The Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick - Up In The Air
Mo'Nique - Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire

Best Director
James Cameron - Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels - Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
Jason Reitman - Up In The Air

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman - The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy - Up
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche - In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell - District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
Nick Hornby - An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up In The Air

Best Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Ajami (Israel)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)

For a complete list of all the nominees and updates on the March 7th event, visit http://oscar.go.com/.